Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 326 The Master Returns Home Without Expecting a Welcome from the Robbers
Hogwarts Castle, Scotland.
Whether students from the pure-blood academy or the half-blood academy, they all woke up early this morning and excitedly discussed matters concerning the Triwizard Tournament .
Everyone knew that today was the day the competition officially began, and in the morning, when they had just started the first day of the new semester, many newspaper reporters from all over Europe had already arrived at the castle.
Hogwarts Castle has specially prepared accommodation for them. The Triwizard Tournament will not last for a day or two. The three events together will take at least a school year, so it is necessary to ensure that these reporters who follow the whole process are well provided with food, clothing, housing and transportation.
At 10 o'clock, the Beauxbatons students arrived at the castle.
In the morning, Snape specially suspended all students' classes and stood in front of the castle to welcome them.
The person who came with the students of Beauxbatons was not their headmaster who had just been in office for a year, but Voldemort himself, who had not appeared since the warrior selection.
From the first to the seventh grade, except for Draco who stood beside Snape as the warrior of Hogwarts Castle, all other students lined up on the grass in an orderly manner according to their bloodline to welcome the guests from Beauxbatons and their headmaster.
Emile, the warrior of Beauxbatons, followed Voldemort, only half a body length behind him, and walked towards Hogwarts Castle with him.
Snape followed with Draco, also following behind his master.
"Has Dumbledore brought anyone?" Voldemort, who was walking in front, asked casually. He did not look as angry and out of control as he was when he saw the bodies of the Lestranges four months ago.
Snape said softly.
"They haven't arrived yet, Master, but they should be soon."
Voldemort nodded and said nothing more. But when he stepped onto the top step of the castle and was about to enter the gate, he turned around and looked at the students who were still standing in line on the lawn.
"Now that I'm here, who are you waiting for?" He said loudly, his voice reaching every student's ears. "This is a pleasant morning. What you need is cake and tea, children. Go back to the auditorium. There are no guests worth waiting for."
The students on the lawn looked at their headmaster in surprise at first, but soon everyone came to their senses and all of them, whether they were pure-blood students or mixed-blood students, cheered.
Obviously, no one wants to stand in one place for a whole morning, and now that this great gentleman has spoken, they can naturally be liberated.
Every student had a look of joy on their face. They sincerely surrounded the pure-blood guests from Beauxbatons and their headmaster as they walked into the castle.
Among them, only Snape looked back at the empty lawn, and then did not say anything. He just walked behind all the students and finally closed the two castle gates...
…
Near noon, the Thestrals pulled their carriage to the sky above Hogwarts Castle.
Jon and Hagrid sat side by side in the driving seat, re-penetrating the clouds and starting to descend from the sky. He looked at the castle standing between the mountains and the Black Lake, and couldn't help squinting his eyes.
He remembered the last time he came here and when he left, and now he was back again.
Hagrid was also looking down, but he was not looking at the castle. Instead, he was looking at the endless Forbidden Forest beside the Black Lake that was like a mirror.
The circles around his eyes were obviously red, and his two big hands holding the reins were shaking slightly because he was holding too hard.
Even the Thestrals that were flying and pulling the carriage showed visible joy, as if they had returned to their familiar homeland. Each of them could not wait to swoop down and fly towards the ancient castle with the carriage.
There is no need for guidance. No one in the world understands this school as well as these people sitting in the carriage.
Even those who are in the castle right now.
The Thestrals spread their huge black wings, flew low over the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and glided along the surface of the Black Lake. The hooves of the lowest flying Thestral even skimmed the calm lake water, leaving ripples.
Finally, the group of black Pegasus folded their wings and landed on the lakeside lawn in front of the castle.
Their hooves stepped on the soft ground, and the wheels of the Hogwarts carriage fell back to the ground. After slowly sliding forward for a short distance, they stopped completely in front of the closed gate of the castle.
The summer breeze blew up the curtains at the back of the carriage, and Dumbledore and Rosier filed out with the students from Hogwarts and Durmstrang.
There was an excitement that could not be concealed on every child's face, especially the ten students from Hogwarts. They had always been called Hogwarts, but nine of them were visiting this ancient castle that had been passed down for thousands of years for the first time.
Even Hermione's eyes sparkled brightly.
She came back again, no longer as a slave, but as a free person, a wizard holding a wand, a student of a magic school.
But the empty lawn with no one in sight still cooled the enthusiasm of these excited students.
“It’s extremely disrespectful.”
Rosier's face was cold. She felt that even though she had never looked down on this dark devil, she had overestimated his magnanimity.
George looked up at the dark castle, and at that moment a cloud happened to be covering the sky above them.
"I've actually always been imagining what Hogwarts Castle is like."
He stood beside Jon, his face no longer showing the funny smile and frivolity of the past, only calmness.
"My dad and mom have told me since I was a kid that this is the greatest place in the world. Bill told me that this is where the best memories of every wizard's life are born. Charlie almost always recalls to us how great the Quidditch games in this school are every time he comes home. But I just feel that this place is... lifeless."
Jon looked at the castle as well.
Although he stayed here for a long time last time, the slave life of a "Mudblood" did not allow him to have the extra energy to observe and appreciate this thousand-year-old castle.
And now, when he could take in the castle completely, for some reason, the dead shadow of the prison on the island of Azkaban emerged in his mind.
Dumbledore was standing not far in front of George. When he heard George's comments, a nostalgic smile appeared on his face.
“Everyone has a different impression of this place, but maybe it’s not the castle that’s changing, it’s the times we live in. Like me, I’ve always thought these were a great place to store wool socks.”
The students of Hogwarts looked at each other, and they all knew that Dumbledore had started to say something that sounded confusing again.
Just then, an old woman with a cane limped over to them along the edge of the Black Lake.
She wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat on her head and had a hunched body, but although she needed a cane to walk steadily, she did not seem slow at all.
"Do you know how difficult it is to maintain these lawns? Those little mudbloods are clumsy! Quickly ask your people to lead these beasts with me! These ominous Thestrals are disgusting! They make me upset just by looking at them!"
The old witch stared at the students of Hogwarts and Durmstrang with disgust through her cloudy eyes. She cursed at the Thestrals, but only she knew whether she was cursing the Thestrals or students like Jon.
"Hurry up! Take these beasts and follow me! I 'll take you to find a place for them to nest. It's better not to let me see them poop here, otherwise I will turn you into a dung beetle and make you push a dung ball!"
The witch screamed past Dumbledore and the others and shouted to Hagrid, who was holding the reins of the Thestral.
Hagrid glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded slightly to him. Then, with a look of dissatisfaction on his face, he took the Thestral and followed the cursing witch off the lawn.
"What do we do now?"
Diane looked at Rosier and then at Dumbledore.
After hearing her question, Dumbledore turned his attention to Jon.
"What do you think we should do now, Jon?"
When he asked the question, the eyes of all the students present were focused on Jon.
Jon raised his head and looked at the towering castle, then he led the way and came to the steps.
"This shouldn't even be a question, Professor."
Coming to the door he had not seen for more than a year, he stretched out his hand, pushed the door open heavily, and said in a faint voice.
"Everyone knows who is the master here. There are thousands of truths in this world, but there is no truth that says that the master needs a group of robbers to welcome him home."
“Squeak~”
The heavy wooden door made a sound that was full of the passage of time, and the spacious foyer and clean corridor appeared before everyone's eyes.
Candles were lit up one by one on the walls on both sides, like soldiers ready to go to greet their commander's inspection.
Jon's shoes, stained with wet mud from the lawn, stepped on the clean tiles that reflected his shadow, and his firm and powerful footsteps echoed throughout the empty corridor.
Behind him, the students from Hogwarts and Durmstrang were looking at his back. The humiliation and frustration they had felt were swept away, and replaced by a surge of excitement!
Yes, there has never been a reason in this world that when the master returns home, the robbers need to go out to welcome him.
When they came back this time, they never thought about getting any so-called respect.
Instead, take back your home!
